With vivid colors and enticing scents, flowers have proved to be a timeless gift. Whether you’re sprucing a wedding aisle or celebrating a birthday—you simply can’t make do without flowers.
Today, technological innovation has altered the way we choose, pay for, and get our flowers. There was a time when we needed to go to a florist to pick our flowers. However, with on-demand flower delivery apps, we can browse flowers online and get them delivered to our doorstep in a few clicks.
In this blog, we explore the exciting landscape of flower delivery and explore how subscription-based models can boost flower delivery sales. So, if you are in the Online Flower Delivery Software Business or want to launch an on-demand flower delivery app—-this blog is a must-read for you. Let’s dive right into the Power of the Subscription Model for Flower Delivery Business:
Overview of the Online Flower Delivery Industry
Flower delivery businesses today have leveraged technology to reach and serve their customers. With dedicated flower delivery software solutions, consumers can browse local florists, place orders, pay online, and receive flower deliveries.
As one may expect, these apps have brought forth a lot of conveniences and the online flower delivery market has successfully capitalized on it. The online flower shop market was valued at USD USD 16.3 billion in 2023. Since 2018, the market has shown an impressive 14.5% year-on-year (YOY) growth. Last year alone, the industry grew by 4.7%.
One of the biggest factors driving growth in this niche is the availability of mobile-friendly flower delivery apps. Plus, consumers are getting comfortable with the idea of ordering flowers online. Hence, the market is promising as consumer demands continue to rise.
Understanding Subscription-based Flower Delivery Businesses
Traditionally, flower businesses have been transactional. We usually hear about subscription-based models in the context of OTT platforms. Who knew introducing the subscription-based business model to the online flower delivery segment would do wonders?
Under the subscription model, floral businesses can receive orders and deliver flowers regularly. As a result, customers no longer need to place orders whenever they need flowers.
By subscribing to a floral delivery service, consumers can have flowers delivered every week or month—depending on their delivery preferences and needs.
Conversely, the flower delivery service providers also benefit from this model, as they can maintain a steady stream of revenue each month while simultaneously building a loyal customer base.
How to Setup a Subscription Service for an Online Flower Delivery Business
Moving from a transactional business to a subscription-based flower delivery business can be challenging. So, here are a few tips to get you started:
Research Your Target Audience
Before kick-starting your subscription-based flower delivery business, survey existing clients to see if they’d be willing to adopt such a payment model.
Next, categorize your client base depending on their needs, available budget, and timeline. No two consumers will have similar flower requirements. Hence, understanding the unique needs of your clientele is the key to designing a consumer-centric subscription model.
Curate Multiple Subscription Plans
Since client requirements may vary from time to time, be sure to launch multiple subscription plans when you kick-start your business. Offer flexible choices in terms of weekly, monthly, or seasonal deliveries. Also, offer express deliveries for special occasions.
By doing so, you’ll cater to a wide range of clients. Also, provide flexible payment options and avoid restricting consumers with lock-in periods or hidden fees.
Prepare Your Inventory for the Subscription Model
Continue serving clients with the highest-quality flowers and bouquets, especially when they sign up under the subscription model. Anticipate consumer needs and prep your inventory. Also, set up delivery fleets and drivers so all orders can reach your customers on time. Partner up with local florists to diversify your range of offerings.
Excel at Customer Servicing
Initially, you may face challenges convincing clients to switch to the subscription model. How you support customers and ease their doubts will be crucial at this stage. Excellent customer service can help foster trust and make your clients feel confident in your services. Hence, be responsive to client concerns and address their concerns promptly.
Setup Payment Gateways
Partner with a trusted payment processor like Stripe to automate payments through debit or credit cards. Always seek the consumer’s permission before automating monthly or weekly billing. You can also use payment reminders to encourage renewals.
How Can the Subscription Model Boost Your Flower Delivery Business?
Getting your consumers to subscribe to your floral business will skyrocket your sales. Subscriptions help foster long-term relationships, which leads to a sense of brand loyalty. Once loyal, your customers will buy from no one but you.
The subscription model also allows you to generate multiple lines of business through upselling or cross-selling. It’s also easier to market new services to your subscribers, as some form of email or social-media communication is already in place.
Engage with consumers frequently using customized messages. Use consumer data to market your services on special occasions like their birthdays or anniversaries. Create a hyper-personalized experience to keep your clients happy.
With a loyal subscriber base, you’ll save considerably on marketing and customer acquisition costs. Hence, the subscription model will lower operational costs and streamline your daily workflows.
Different Types of Flower Delivery Subscription Models
It’s difficult to predict which subscription model will work best for your flower delivery business because it depends entirely on your clientele.
Based on what your consumers want and how much they are willing to pay for it, you can implement one out of the four major types of subscription models:
1. Weekly Subscriptions
This is one of the most common types of subscription model, in which clients expect delivery of flowers or bouquets once a week for home decor, office decor, or gifting purposes.
2. Monthly Subscriptions
Clients who pursue monthly subscriptions expect flower delivery once a month. This model is excellent for flower businesses as the average order value of monthly subscribers is usually higher. Additionally, instead of sending out drivers for delivery every week, you only need to send them once a month.
3. Seasonal Subscriptions
Some clients may only need flowers around special occasions (like birthdays or weddings) or particular seasons (like spring or autumn). Service such clients with seasonal subscriptions where they receive flowers of their choice twice or thrice a year—based on their preferences.
4. Pre-paid Subscriptions
Allow your customers to set up an in-app wallet, which can be topped up with a definitive amount (like $10/month). Whenever your customers need flowers, they can order them through the app and cash out their pre-paid wallets.
Here, the consumer is not bound to a timeline and can order whenever they want. You can also increase flexibility by allowing credits to roll over to the next month if the consumer does not make any purchases in a given month.
Benefits of a Subscription Model for Flower Delivery Businesses
There are several advantages of ascribing to a subscription-based flower delivery business model, especially if you’re just starting:
Predictable & Recurring Revenue Streams
One-time transactions in the flower business are always risky. This business model works great around the holiday or wedding season, leaving you dry for the rest of the year.
Hence, it is ideal to have customers commit to you for longer periods. The subscription model minimizes risk variables, as you’ll have a steady stream of revenue every month.
Predictable income allows you to scale and grow seamlessly. Hence, the biggest advantage of adopting the subscription model is that it removes all uncertainty regarding inventory, flower orders, and revenue.
Customer Retention
Under the subscription model, you build long-term relationships with your customers. Customers who have subscribed to your floral business interact frequently with the brand.
Since they’re already committed to your floral business, they are more likely to shop from you than anyone else. This loyalty can lead to word-of-mouth referrals and organic advertising of your business.
Opportunities to Upsell
Through monthly subscriptions, you can build a loyal clientele base. This is your ideal target audience to upsell or cross-sell services, like garlands, plantings, greeting cards, or chocolates.
You can also promote your services on special occasions like birthdays, anniversaries, Valentine’s Day, or religious festivals.
Automate Sales
With the subscription model, you can automate your sales and dispatch processes. Use software features that allow recurring orders, dispatch, and delivery to free your team from repetitive tasks.
Subscription-model allows you to set your entire business on auto-pilot mode to focus on client acquisition, branding, and expansion.
Reduce Inventory Mishaps
With monthly subscriptions, you’ll know how many deliveries are due that month. Leverage this data to streamline your inventory. Maintain a limited inventory to fulfill these orders and prevent financial losses due to flower waste or withering.
Examples of Subscription-based Flower Delivery Businesses to Inspire You
On-demand flower delivery businesses are thriving. Below, we’ve mentioned a few popular flower delivery apps. Hopefully, these will inspire you to kick-start your online flower delivery app:
Founded by Jim McCann in 1976, 1-800-Flowers offers flower and gift delivery services throughout the United States and even internationally. It is also a subscription-based flower delivery business that incentivizes its subscribers with free shipping at just $29.99/year.
They tie up with local florists and provide same-day delivery around the year. It’s interesting to note how they have categorized their services based on occasions like birthdays, weddings, parties, graduation, and romantic dates.
Bloom and Wild is the UK’s leading flower delivery platform. The company has skillfully elevated the traditional flower-giving experience with technology. On its platform, you can browse flowers, plants, gifts, and cards and have them delivered to your doorstep.
Let’s Look at Their Subscription Plans:
- Plan For Personal Use: For just £25 a box, you’ll receive fresh flowers every 15 days. You can choose your bouquets and get up to 30% off on your first 3 deliveries. (P.S. They offer free vases!!)
- Subscription Plan For Gifting: Starting at £20 a month, you can send bouquets to a friend or family member each month for as long as you want.
They offer guaranteed fresh flower delivery in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah. They have a comprehensive range of flower arrangements for birthdays, anniversaries, Valentine’s Day, or Mother’s Day.
Aroma Flowers also offers midnight deliveries for surprise parties and late-night celebrations. Their subscription model is straightforward: they provide daily, weekly, or monthly flower deliveries. Choose your preferences and get flowers delivered as scheduled.
How Can Deonde Help You Launch Your Subscription-Based Flower Delivery Business?
However, making the switch from pay-as-you-go to the subscription model is certainly not easy. You need to get to know your clientele and understand their needs.
But more importantly, you need the right tools and features to execute this model. This is where Deonde can help you.
Deonde offers a SaaS-based white-label flower delivery solution. With this, you can kick-start your flower delivery business in minutes. You can rent on-demand flower delivery apps (iOS and Android) on a monthly basis. With Deonde, you get the freedom to:
- Customize your flower delivery business app
- Streamline flower ordering and delivery
- Customize UI/UX to reflect your brand
- Provide push notifications for occasional reminders
- Create personalized messages in multiple languages
All this is available to you without any hefty investments or hidden costs! Get started today and take your flower delivery business to the next level with Deonde’s white-label flower delivery solution.
In a Nutshell
Saas-based flower delivery businesses offer subscription services to deliver fresh flowers. Depending on the subscription type, flowers get delivered weekly, monthly, or seasonally. The subscription model, when implemented correctly, can boost your flower delivery sales. Under this model, you generate a steady revenue stream, gain customer loyalty, and streamline ordering and dispatch.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- What are the Benefits of a Subscription-based Flower Delivery Model?
Ascribing to the subscription-based model is particularly advantageous for flower delivery businesses. It can help them achieve sustainable revenues, build a loyal customer base, and open up opportunities to upsell.
- Are Flower Delivery Subscriptions a Lot of Work to Manage?
Launching a new subscription-based model can be exciting yet overwhelming. But you can manage the technical aspects of the business by investing in an agile, customized on-demand flower delivery solution. Companies like Deonde offer highly customizable flower delivery solutions. These solutions handle order processing, dispatch, and delivery—so you can easily kick-start your business.
- My Business is New. Is a Subscription Model Right For Me?
The subscription model may be perfect for your online flower delivery startup as it will help you establish a loyal customer base. If you’re a bootstrapped company, you’ll appreciate the steady income that follows the subscription model. Also, you’ll find that it’s much easier to scale your services using this model.
- Why Should I Opt for a SaaS-based White-label Flower Delivery Solution?
Going for a white-label solution can save you time and resources, allowing you to launch your business quickly. A white-label solution is a ready-made platform for managing orders and flower deliveries. Deonde’s white-label solution enables you to customize functionalities and user interfaces. As a result, you’ll have a complete solution that speaks to your brand.
